Expected to do bosses job when she's not there.

[yousmellMarfelus]

A few months ago at work, I applied for a more senior role, which involves more responsibilities and more pay.
I was unsuccessful at the time and the post went to someone else.
I'm fine about it, because it was good interview practice and I don't begrudge it going to the this particular person. She is right for the job.

My gripe is this.

When she is off sick or at a meeting or on a training course, I am often asked to fill in for her.
It tens to only happensabout once every two weeks, but still.....
Am I right to be a bit annoyed that they don't think I'm good enough to do the job, but are quite happy for me to step in when it suits them.
Why should I do her job when I don't get any of the perks.

Does this happen in many working environments?

We don't even get it then, AF. the reward is the experience and chance to prove yourself.
It's worked well for me - I covered for my boss when she had to go on leave and the experience I hot doing that got me my current job (which tripled my salary.)

I did have to move companies and countries mind ;)

The public sector is totally different to the real world though, work wise

What unreal world is the public sector in?

I am a boss, when I am away I always try out people in the different roles I perform, and use their performance to determine where I might use them in future.

Just add roles achieved to update your CV/in work role record, and use in future to back up your discussion about role in company.

Everyone should update their personal work achivment diary daily(we have company policy to insure everyone records ,Anyone who has gone through self employment knows unless you write the tiny details down at the end of a working day before you leave work , it is surprising how many details and personal skills get overlooked and for accounting is .

I usually find employees don't notice when they have fulfilled extra tasks.

Keep a daily record of your work, mundane and extra, use it in reviews.

"I've got to agree with anyfuckers last post to be honest "

Yep

OP this has been the norm in every job I've been in that's been public, private, overseas, nmw, professional all of them. Frankly you come across as petty and immature.

I agree with misti women are still expected to STFU in work and be greatful while men can forge on and demand higher pay

Where I worked you could add the higher rate if you were covering a person with a higher job spec on your overtime timesheet and you would get the difference.

I however was stupid enough not to do this as 'there wasn't enough in the budget' in our department - which was bullshit.

I don't think the op sounds precious - maybe she just knows her worth.

Stepping up on an ad hoc basis is not doing the boss's job, and the benefit is the experience gained. You're not doing the whole of your boss's work if it's just once every couple of weeks on average.

In every role I've had, the job spec included the fact that you stepped up now and again. You would never get a pay rise for doing so, because the pay scale included an element for that.

If you stepped up to do the whole role for some time, you got an additional payment, but you had to be doing the whole role for more than a few days at a time.

This has nothing to do with men getting ahead, everyone gains experience by doing a few more senior tasks. I step up when my boss isn't here, but I just see it as part and parcel of the work, and ultimately I don't get held responsible for whatever I do when stepping up, the buck stops with my boss.

Ultimately, attitude plays a big part in the perception of whether someone is right for a role, or indeed promotion. OP comes across as resentful, and I would be very surprised if some of that hasn't leaked out, even if she doesn't realise it.

I've worked in the private sector for over 30 years.

In my experience men are MUCH more vocal about getting rewarded if they feel they are doing "extra". That is why, on average, they get on faster. It's a lot easier to get a promotion and to distinguish yourself from the competition if extra duties are already recognised and rewarded.

Of course there are times when you have to step up without expectation of reward, but this depends very much on how regular it is, how senior your own role is, and the difference in remuneration between the two roles.

Just to add that I have seen people (outside my own organisation I am happy to say) repeatedly turned down for promotion, then expected to step in when the person recruited to the more senior role turned out to be incompetent and/ or unreliable.

If stepping up led reliably to advancement, then some of the advice here would make sense. But it really doesn't, and while some organisations do reward willingness with promotion, others will simply exploit. Women are much more likely to experience this sort of exploitation than men, partly because other women are eager to advise them to put up and shut up.

Go ahead and ask for more pay for doing your job but expect to be passed over for future promotions. Good leadership doesn't sit and quibble about tasks, they do what is needed for the company. Those that sit back and demand extra pay for doing whatever is needed generally aren't considered management material.

So on this basis, I should've asked for a pay rise the moment my boss stepped out the door on her maternity leave? as I am expected to do her job and take on the responsibility in her absence (including shit she didn't do even before I joined the company) for five months
I would've got laughed at.
But will it look good on my CV and be powerful evidence in my next review that I'm capable of doing it? yes it will.
it seems to have shown that I'm committed, a team player and not just out for what I can get screw out of the company, from the feedback I'm getting from bosses at national level.

Pouting about doing a few extra tasks on random days doesn't really do you any favours, as didn't you say you were capable of doing them anyway when you applied for the job? As others have said, keep a record and use it in your next review. In the meantime, did you ever ask for feedback from the process to find out why you didn't fit the criteria?

In almost every job I've worked there is a world of difference between covering for a boss' holiday and actually doing that job long term. For example I cover for my boss when he's away/out of the office etc. I can make decisions, offer our advice and opinions, ask others to do stuff etc. However I don't have the responsibility of regular meetings with our NEDs, planning the group wide strategy for our function, negotiating annual renewals for hundreds of thousands of dollars of insurance etc. He does a totally different job over the course of the year from the one I do. In the same way people who work for me cover when I'm not in the office, but they're not responsible for issuing reports in our name, allocating resources etc.

grey if you don't feel you can ask for the appropriate rate of pay when your doing a sustained higher pay grade role then that's your issue. Some people like to get paid for what they actually do

This is such a silly thread. It's been said by many people already but there is a world of difference between 'covering' on the odd day and actually doing the job.

Having a more senior position isn't just about the day to day tasks which can be delegated, there's usually more longer term strategic planning, team management and budget management - as well as having the responsibility for getting the results.

Part of being a team player also involves covering for people when they are not around - and that works both upwards and downwards. I imagine that when you are ill or on holiday then someone takes over responsibility for any urgent tasks that can't wait?

If anyone expects to get a payrise simply for filling in on an ad hoc basis then that would just say to me that they're not a team player.

Honestly, you sound bitter about not getting the role - not fine at all as you claim.

Mistigri has a valuable point about women being far more prone to exploitation. It's far more common for men to be promoted on potential, while their female peers are expected to "prove themselves" by doing the job, sometimes for years, without getting the pay.

Greyponcho - you seem to be doing that. You might not get it, but it certainly would be entirely reasonable for you to receive some sort of recognition for long term cover.

What the OP described however does not fit. It isn't enough to really count as doing the job.

So it would not be reasonable to expect more pay in most organisations for that level of responsibility (there are exceptions, someone mentioned working in a retail environment where beinh the keyholder that shift accrued a higher rate).

Yep, misti has a valuable point. I just don't think it applies here.

Thanks for the replies.
The majority seem to think I abu.
I suppose I will have to suck it up and view it as 'experience'.

However, I see some posters have also come up with some interesting comments, which are also food for thought.

If stepping up led reliably to advancement, then some of the advice here would make sense. But it really doesn't, and while some organisations do reward willingness with promotion, others will simply exploit. Women are much more likely to experience this sort of exploitation than men, partly because other women are eager to advise them to put up and shut up

Mistigri has a valuable point about women being far more prone to exploitation. It's far more common for men to be promoted on potential, while their female peers are expected to "prove themselves" by doing the job, sometimes for years, without getting the pay.

Years of conditioning have made us this way.

Covering for colleagues is the norm, it will be under your contract as 'any other tasks deemed reasonable by management' or similar.

Come on then op, tell us the specific types of tasks you are being asked to take on?

Really depend on what you are going when you cover for her. If you are performing brain surgery when she isn't available and that's not normally part of your role but your are employed for these skills you should be paid more.

If you are a just a point of contact for any problems on that one day, maybe sort out a staff shortage, sign off a purchase order within an approval level, or a email to forward urgent requests to, or any other of the day to day admin/operational parts of her role then not so much and you are very naïve to believe you are not doing her job. You are not dealing with the long term staffing issues, staff motivation, the budgets, the strategy for the team going forward, etc etc etc.

*to believe you are not doing her job

Agreed. If you want to avoid your occasional stepping up drifting into something that doesn't ever seem to go anywhere, then it may be worth asking your manager for a conversation: explaining that as she's aware, you're ambitious and interested in promotion, and while you value the compliment of being trusted to step up, you'd like to put that in the context of a structured development plan to put you on a strong position for promotion - whether that's addressing skills gaps, or working on visibility within the organisation.

Whether that works to get you a promotion depends on how effective a manager she is at developing her people. In my experience, promotion in most oeganisations has a lot to do with your manager's ability and willingness to put you forward. (E.g. I've worked for a good manager who thought the world of me so very willing - but she wasn't aware enough of organisational politics to get my promotion through, and as a woman senior management weren't going to just believe I was competent, it had to be proven beyond reasonable doubt. When I realised that, I decided promotion would be easiest just stepped into in another organisation and did that).

RJ, lets just say that it involves health care.
Basically, the bottom line is, if I stuff up, I will get the blame.

I don't see why I should take the rap for something that she's being paid for.